Mᴜᴛᴀɴᴛ Aᴘᴏᴄᴀʟʏᴘsᴇ: Dᴏɴᴀᴛᴇʟʟᴏ's 200 Dᴀʏs

20 || 𝐍𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓

For the first night, Donatello has been fighting Rep mentally and it is just eating him up inside that he can't control this mental issue. In order to keep Jared safe, Donnie needed to remain himself for a full 48 hours, or even longer. He really does not want to be that being who ends up ending a baby's life just because of how mentally sick he is. Donnie wants to take this risk just so little Jared can have a chance.

From what Donatello remembers from his past, knowing the human culture, he needed to fill up the baby's bottle with water and give it a certain amount of servings of baby formula. Successfully, he was able to feed Jared a full bottle before he changed the baby's diaper and put him to sleep for the night.

Donnie was on edge, sitting like a guard dog out in the open while he was sitting next to a fire, cradling Jared in his arms. Every sound he hears, he hopes that it's not infected or some creep lurking in the shadows.

While Donnie stares into the flames of his fire, he could see the flames dancing, thinking back to the other times when he shared a fire with his family. For some odd reason, his family existed in his head, but they were not a priority and Don suddenly came to the conclusion that he doesn't know if it is the exact answer. He wondered if he was meant to stay away from them-- his family. Well, he accepted that...

He feels that he doesn't deserve to go back to his family because of the person he has become, Almost executing the healthy side of him completely. He sees himself as a coward, someone that didn't dare return to his family after being accidentally left behind. For the first time, he is somewhat thinking clearly, but not all the way.

She could hear the owls and the rest of the night creatures creating a natural and haunting song for the evening hours. it feels like he is the only one on earth, the only mutant to listen to the songs of the night. If he listened hard enough, he could listen to the crickets chirping, the mosquitoes buzzing by, the mice scratching at the tree bark, and the rabbits thumping below in their burrows.

Gulping intensely, Donnie pushes up his glasses and takes in a deep breath before looking down at Jared and the blankets. He began to wonder how this child will grow up and who he will become when he was a teenager or even an adult if he makes it that far. Will Jared become this mentally ill survivor or an incredibly well-trained young man that is meant to beat this world? Donatello didn't know, but he hopes for the best.

Pretty soon, Donnie is nodding off as he sits up against a large tree. And before he could process it, he was awake with the sunlight shining in his eyes and Jared still snoozing against his plastron.

It's sort of quiet.

The only noises could hear were the mourning doves and the chickadees singing a tune. Donnie swiveled his head in all directions, seeing the environment is clear and not a Walkers or Runner is in sight.

𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝟻𝟷

He glances at Jared once again and sees he is completely safe, breathing, and not having to worry about infected or any other dangers. As long as the baby is with Donnie while he is in a good mindset, Jared is protected.

Donnie got up from his seat on the ground and kicked dirt into the fire pit which had a trail of smoke arising from it. Quickly, he grabbed his things and placed them on his shell that had been disguised as a backpack. If someone were to walk up on him, they'd mistake him for a large man with a very large and overpacked bag.

Today, Donatello thought he was getting a break for the first few hours of his morning, but the world had something else in mind. After about ten minutes of walking through the brush with this human baby, he snapped his head to the left, hearing a twig snap.

His eyes are focused behind his mask, staring at a particular tree with bark scratched off the trunk. Don growled under his breath, gripping Jared tighter in the blankets. The little boy squirmed in the blankets, trying to get more comfortable but soon would let out a fussy whine that caused a creature to reveal itself from hiding.

A Runner, one that appears to be fresh scrambled to its feet, darting toward Donnie and the baby. An instinct kicks in right away and Donatello reaches for one of the Kamas on his belt with Jared in his other arm.

The tension rises inside Donnie once again and inhaled deeply to prepare his strike toward the Runner's head. The face of this monster is rotting and the infection is spreading across its face as it let out a horrendous roar. Don despised the way it ran, losing its balance and creating an insane amount of noise.

The mutant readied his Kama, waited for the Runner to approach closer, and swung the curved blade into the monster's temple, driving it to the ground. Surprisingly, the force of the hit was incredibly strong, Don heard a faint crack.

Don breathed out, kneeling to the ground as he still held the Kama's handle. Yanking it from the Runner's head, the blood gushes and drizzles into the forest floor. "That's that." Don said, wiping the blade on the Runner's torn clothes before holstering it on his hip.

In the blankets, Jared cooed and stared up at the masked turtle for the first time, aware that he is safe and well taken care of. Don gulped, nodding once before turning his back on the dead Runner and proceeding with his journey as a soloist... with a little friend on the side.

****

Far Away...

How could he be gone this long? There is no way Donnie let himself stay away. Knowing him he's gotta be looking for his family.

Sitting in the middle of the road, a shapeshifter stared down it, imagining him walking up to her and the rest of the family. She is waiting for a ghost, something that probably no longer exists.

As the wind blew through her hair, Kristen and Patience came up. The mutant lizard sits on Osa's right and Kristen on the left, setting their arms around Osa to comfort her in some way. Ever since Don had gone missing, she's been quiet and anti-social. There have been times when she'll talk, but only if it is about Donnie.

Osa can't express what she feels other than she feels completely shattered and incomplete. She realized how important Donnie was to her and didn't know how much she'd miss his company. The shifter had only known him about two months, heck, maybe not a full two months.

She can still hear his laugh, see his smile, remember his advice... now it's gone.

"You never know," Patience says softly, speaking to Osa closely. "We might find him tomorrow."

"Or today." Kristen added, some optimism in her tone.

Osita says nothing, not acknowledging her friends sitting next to her. She just... looks down the road at nothing but trees, clouds, and more road. "Please leave me alone." Said Osa, burying her face into her palms, feeling ashamed for not attempting to save him that night. She feels she could have jumped off that moving RV and tried saving him. That personal shame caused her to tear up, soaking her eyes and sob silently.

She didn't, though.

Maybe it was her fault.